Before becoming a mum I didn't know what I needed to get let alone where I needed to get it, now we are 11 months in I do feel like I've gathered some wisdom on the subject. I am nowhere near an experienced mum just yet but I have figured out what works for us and how to save money on items while getting the best stuff!
Feeding: Feeding is so stressful, I breastfeed so I didn't have to buy much for this but once weaning started it was a whole new world I knew nothing about. We started with purees both homemade and Ellas Kitchen pouches which we found to be good quality, baby enjoyed them and well priced. We soon discovered that Rory was more suited to the baby led approach so now he eats pretty much what we eat but snack wise I do like to have a selection of baby safe snacks so keep him full on the go or distract him while walking around the supermarket! We have found Aldi's Mamia range to be the most affordable, he absolutely loves the Carrots Snacks and Raspberry Rice Cakes both of which are less than 50p and last all week. We also love Boots own range. Own brands have proven to be of equal quality of baby brands and usually half the price!
Bath and Body: Poundland is the place to go! We aren't fans of spending loads of money on washing stuff because at the end of the day they just wash. Johnsons is a reputable brand known for great quality baby products and they are super affordable anyway but bought from Poundland they are even more so. We have never had an issue with them and actually have never had to re buy the shampoo after 11 months as the bottle is still half full! Poundland also sell a pack of three super soft flannels which are you guessed it, a pound and so incredible good. It's all we use!
Nappies: We mostly used Pampers Pure at the beginning as we were kindly gifted a good supply from Pampers and we got a lot in Bounty packs (get these) and Emmas Diary packs (get these too!) and honestly, they are fantastic nappies but once they ran out and we had to pay for them, we found them to be too expensive so we started trying out so many different supermarket own brands, some better than others but we found Tesco Fred and Flo nappies to be by far the best. Very affordable, soft, no leaks and super cute patterns. Aldi is also ok, don't have the same luxurious feel but do the job well and are a bargain!
Wipes: Aldi, Aldi and only Aldi! Their wipes are incredible! Less than 50p per packed, you can get travel sizes for your handbag and you can even buy in bulk which we do. The packaging is functional and sturdy, you get a lot of wipes and they are the perfect wetness! They are also sensitive which is great for little baby tushies!
Toys: We are very lucky that Rory has 5 older cousins, 3 boys and 2 girls so we have been given so many second hand toys all of which have been tried and tested by real life little ones and then passed on to us. We also love to look on facebook marketplace for second hands bits in our area, send a quick message, jump in the car and go collect! Be sure to give them a clean then they are good as new. We also love supermarkets, they tend to have a great selection of toys and garden centres are fantastic for good books!
Clothes: We have bought clothes from literally everywhere over these months but now we have found our faves that we frequently shop at when Rory has a growth spurt! My absolute favourite is Morrisons Nutmeg, they always have the cutest bits and so so cheap! They also regularly have really good sales to collect bits for his future wardrobe. Other supermarkets such as Asda and Tesco are also great. We also looooove Next but as Next is usually quite pricey we always looks out for sales or outlet shops. We have found so many great deals recently.
Nursery Furniture: Everything in Rorys room is either Ikea or Mokkee, both affordable, stylish and functional brands. We continue to be very impressed with everything we have bought. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to buy everything from John Lewis or Mothercare because you will end up paying more!
Baby big buys: So im talking things like the pram, carseats, carriers. What we did was go into shops such as John Lewis, Mothercare and Mamas and Papas to have a look, ask questions and roll prams up and down the aisles then once we decides what we wanted we went and bought them on Argos or Precious Little One as they were so much cheaper!
I hope some of this helped you as a new or expecting mama or even a seasoned mama who's looking for something new to try out!
Do you have an brands/items that you swear by, what are they?
